


sleep study

by brandywine421



Series: circadian [2]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Dating, Fluff, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24032866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: Bucky didn't mean to turn his one night stand into a habit, let alone a boyfriend, but if great sex and 8 hours of sleep were a symptom, he was fine with being an addict.Matt was so tactile, always willing for contact with permission and Bucky - fuck - spent too much time frozen in a box to ever turn down a kind touch.He couldn't keep his hands off the compact little bastard - claimed to have a body like that from boxing but unless he'd been tangling with guys with knives for knuckles then he was a shit liar.  Bucky loved making him wiggle and purr, hearing him pant and once, a whimper that he was going to keep trying to replicate.  Damn.(Matt could hyperfixate on his arm in short sessions, not for the strength or the bling like other lovers he'd taken, but the taste - the feel of it against his lips, cool metallic like 'making out with a slinky' - but it never lasted long before skin would catch his attention again.)Loosely follows 'insomnia' - Bucky/Matt fluff.
Relationships: Frank Castle & Matt Murdock, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Matt Murdock, Luke Cage & Matt Murdock & Danny Rand, Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson
Series: circadian [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733647
Comments: 30
Kudos: 120





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not in the same tone at all as the first in the series, just had some Bucky/Matt feels today.

  
Bucky didn't mean to turn his one night stand into a habit, let alone a boyfriend, but if great sex and 8 hours of sleep were a symptom, he was fine with being an addict.

Matt was so tactile, always willing for contact with permission and Bucky - fuck - spent too much time frozen in a box to ever turn down a kind touch.

He couldn't keep his hands off the compact little bastard - claimed to have a body like that from boxing but unless he'd been tangling with guys with knives for knuckles then he was a shit liar. Bucky loved making him wiggle and purr, hearing him pant and once, a whimper that he was going to keep trying to replicate. Damn.

_(Matt could hyperfixate on his arm in short sessions, not for the strength or the bling like other lovers he'd taken, but the taste - the feel of it against his lips, cool metallic like 'making out with a slinky' - but it never lasted long before skin would catch his attention again.)_

The sleep was - dreamless bliss. Sometimes they didn't make it to the sex, the makeout sessions turning into naps that they both admitted to each other were a gift. Matt didn't sleep - he stalked the streets looking for a fuck or a fight - boxing lawyer, Sure Jan. Bucky - Bucky slept for years, decades - fuck sleep in real life. 

But it was the sleep that turned 'seeing each other' into actual dates. Instead of meeting at bars to pre-game for the sex, they met at restaurants or farmer's markets to pre-game and the sex was optional - but the cuddling was included - always included.

They could date. Bucky didn't know much about it without a pre-programmed mission loaded up and Matt admitted he was too Catholic to ever bother learning how it worked to use it in practice with a history to match. But dates were fun, the sex and the sleep stayed amazing and he actually thought they were figuring it out.

Bucky could be a normal guy with a lawyer boyfriend who suspiciously didn't ask enough questions to avoid return fire questions. It wasn't a secret, but they both - completely - agreed that they shouldn't meet each other's friends until far later.

But Bucky liked Matt a lot - enough that Sam stopped teasing him and Steve started needling him for a name. It would only be a matter of time before they let it slip to Natasha - or worse - Wanda. 

* * *

  
"Well fuck," Matt sighed, leaning back with an annoyed expression halfway through Bucky's story. "Hold that thought."

Bucky watched him pull out a phone and then another phone before raising the second one to his ear. "The fuck are you doing in Chelsea right now? I'm on a date, which also isn't any of your business. Yes. No. Not yet. Fuck you."

He warily scanned the rooftops and caught the flash of a watch or signal mirror. Sniper. What?

"Sorry. An - _acquaintance_ \- is going to light this whole place up in a couple of hours so we should probably move on."

"What's he chasing?"

Matt hesitated. "You're military, so I probably shouldn't say. He gets involved in all kinds of government bullshit but it's none of my business."

"But it might be mine," Bucky admitted.

"Shit. Now I have to ask whose side you're on and I was really hoping to put that off," Matt said. "Illegal weapons possibly being sold by ex-military hacks to domestic terrorists."

Bucky blinked at him. "Uh, neither of those sides."

Matt laughed under his breath and raised the phone. "Tag in. See you in five."

* * *

He recognized Frank Castle on sight without processing the skull on his vest or the stockpile of weapons. He had mad respect for the guy, even if he was a stinking Marine. 

Frank shoved a Kevlar vest into Matt's hands with a grunt of greeting. "You know the rules, Red, if you're tagging in with me then you gotta dress for it."

_Red?_

Frank gestured to a scope and rifle in place on the edge of his roof nest. "No introductions necessary since none of us are here."

Bucky liked the guy already and peered through the scope to see what had the Punisher's attention. "Damn. Where's it headed?"

"Ever heard of Advanced Idea Mechanics?" Frank asked.

"Thought we got rid of those assholes," Matt muttered.

"You ran them out of Hell's Kitchen, but they just burrowed in somewhere else," Frank grumbled.

"Yeah, I'm fucking acquainted with them. They're - don't want to step on any toes but aren't they a little out of your league? You're a lawyer," Bucky directed at Matt.

"Wait, he doesn't know - " Frank started.

"We haven't _explicitly_ talked about it but this dating stuff has never been my forte, Father Gary said I should wait until at least the fifth date to bring it up," Matt said.

"There are so many problems with that statement - why is a priest giving you dating instructions?"

"Because the last person I tried to date _legitimately_ is now fucking **you** and also, none of your business," Matt replied, pulling a dark swoop of fabric from his jacket and draping it over his eyes.

"Oh. **Red** , I get it," Bucky said when he realized Daredevil was at the party. "That's fucking hot." He shook off a rush of sudden ideas to try when their 'date' went into the second half and turned back to Frank. "I'd offer to call for an assist, but you seem to have your shit in order."

"Wouldn't mind your folks doing cleanup, might keep these assholes off the field longer than the local cops," Frank conceded. "Who do you answer to these days?"

"Fuck if I know, but I'm not guilty of treason or war crimes as long as I do what I'm told," Bucky admitted.

"Fifth date," Matt repeated.

"Yeah, I had a deal like that, once upon a time. Let Red look over your files, he's a decent lawyer when he's got his head in the game," Frank told him.

He glared at him. "You know, this asshole's been taking me out for canapes and cocktails when we could have been busting heads."

"Yeah, well, lucky for me, he's shit at dating," Frank grinned, opening an ammo box and flinging a set of batons at Matt. He caught them easily and Bucky added another few activities for later to his list.

"Someone's greeting a Colonel," Matt said, head tilted slightly. "Second floor, near a open window."

* * *

"We need more guys," Steve finally admitted, swiping to close the screen on the tablet and lean against the wall of the roof entry.

"It'll take too long" Sam said. "We need to do this now."

Bucky considered the options and shifted his weight, the thrum of pain between his thighs reminding him of a nice evening hopefully with an encore tonight. Damn. "I can call in a favor, if you really think this is home base."

"I want it on record that he's thought the last four bases were home base," Sam said.

"Baseball's got different rules now, you don't know my life," Steve muttered. "What kind of favor?"

He was probably going to regret this but Matt made the first move letting him tag-in with The Punisher, plus he'd picked Matt up and met the Defenders mid-celebration and shared shots with the gang by accident. Right, this was totally allowed if Matt hadn't been lying about spending the afternoon in Harlem.

"Hey, I know we're not doing the 'meet the fam' thing yet, but I could use an assist if you're still - no, really? How do you get banned from the subway? Never mind, you got - sure, bring 'em." Bucky lowered the phone. "He'll be here in five if they can find keys, ten if they can't."

"Where is he?" Sam asked when Steve turned away to pretend like they didn't all see him rolling his eyes.

"Harlem, says we got them out of a free throw challenge, his buddy is a shit gambler," Bucky said, tucking the phone away and checking his clips. "They're suiting up, though so you won't meet him for real."

"You're worried we're not going to like him? Or that he's not going to like us?" Steve asked.

"I already know he doesn't like you," Bucky replied, sticking out his tongue. "But it's more keeping things private. He doesn't want me getting into his messes and I definitely don't want to scare him off dragging him into mine."

"You literally just called him for an assist," Sam pointed out.

Bucky and Steve joined forces to glare at him for dropping one of the three cursed words.

Steve elbowed him. "I'm just giving you shit because you're keeping it all hush-hush."

"You're just giving me shit because you like giving me shit. It's still the early stages."

"He takes you on dates, you go to concerts and bars in public - how many stages are there?" Steve sighed.

Sam smacked them both on the back and knocked the brewing argument out of him. "Pause, I have a question - " 

Bucky followed his pointed finger and spotted Daredevil lurking in a cross-alley in those snug jeans that showed off the curve of his ass and a fitted shirt that showed off his arms above the roped fists. It took a moment to spot the cat ears perched on top of the dark mask hiding his face.

 _"Is he still wearing them? Ha - suck it, Daredevil."_ Danny Rand appeared between them, shocking all three professional Avengers into tiny jumps.

Bucky greeted Luke with a fist bump and made introductions and considering the audience, Power Man and Iron Fist were worthy code names. "Couldn't find his horns this morning?" he asked.

"Lost a bet, Devil sucks at 'I-Spy'," Luke shrugged. "But at least we're keeping Iron Fist from betting real money."

"I'm great at free throws," Danny protested.

"Thanks for coming, Defenders," Steve said, giving Bucky the side-eye.

"Oooh, all professional, I got chills," Luke snorted, crossing his massive arms.

Sam grinned brightly and elbowed Bucky. "I like him, I hope it's that one. You probably like the thick guys. Or is it the blond?"

"We're going to bust up an AIM lab that's in the basement of that building over there. It's going to take all three of us to get what we're looking for but we need to make sure none of the bad guys make it out on the street. We have Icers to knock them out for interrogation but - "

"Nah, we don't do guns without apocalypse reasons - or _Frank_ ," Iron Fist said. "We don't do fatalities either, just tell us where to pile them."

"First we gotta find a way in," Steve said, dropping the Captain tone since there was no mistaking Iron Fist and Power Man for obedient soldiers.

Daredevil tossed a skinny unconscious security guard over the edge of the roof and hopped up after him a moment later. "ID badge," he said in that fuckable growl.

Bucky wanted to dip him like a dancer and lick behind his teeth - but he had to settle for a hand clasp around the ropes.

"Thanks, that's very helpful," Steve said. He plucked the keycard off the guy and Sam passed Luke and Danny communicators that Matt refused, tapping his cat ears.

Steve leaned over and hissed, "I have so many questions, you need to work out those stages."

Bucky didn't fight his smile when he caught Matt's amused expression.

"I don't need the comm, I have great hearing," Daredevil said. "I can't tell you my identity, but you can have that secret as fair trade - there are twenty three armed men in there, six enhanced, three dead and none of them have their phasers set to stun. You sure you want to go in before you flush them out?"

Steve glanced up in surprise. "We need to catch as many as we can - these labs are popping off all over town and we need to find the source to find out what they're planning. We've been chasing decoys."

"We should talk after, pretty sure the Punisher's been putting pins in a map," Daredevil sighed. "You've got two hours 'til shift change, we'll watch the exits."

"And call if you need us," Luke said, tapping his ear once the comm was in.

"Fuck, and I'll buy the drinks after if we actually pull this off. Falcon needs the scoop on all of this," Sam grinned widely.


	2. Chapter 2

Bucky should have worried more about Steve's opinion before dragging the Defenders into their op. He seemed to respect Daredevil, despise Danny and suspect Luke of hitting on Sam 'all out in the open'.

He could watch Matt and Danny bounce spin kicks off each other forever, but they had work to do. Matt's math was impeccable and they cleared the building with only three flesh wounds and four usable hard drives that would hopefully lead Steve to the source of these AIM assholes. 

He left Steve and Sam to handle the trussed up AIM thugs and tracked Matt to the alley where he was keeping 'watch' from the edge of a fire escape. He hopped down with a flourish and grinned when Bucky instinctively put out his arms to catch him.

"Hey now, you're on the job," Matt said, landing softly despite his boots.

"You're a tease," Bucky accused, taking the moment to flirt while his friends were distracted.

"That's not news," Matt shrugged, pausing as he listened to something Bucky couldn't hear. "Cap's got soldiers to listen to him now, but Falcon's still pushing for drinks."

"He's a snoop, they both are," Bucky said.

"It's a little soon, okay, but - fuck, I like you a lot and if you can promise, absolutely swear to me that I can trust them with my identity, then - "

Bucky wound his arm around Matt's waist and pulled him in close. "You're freaking out over nothing and I'd like you to stop. I have trusted Steve with my life for decades, almost a century, and I trust Sam with Steve - I will always and forever trust them more than you, or anybody in this galaxy," he said honestly.

"In the galaxy? I gotta worry about aliens with you, too?" Matt asked after a long beat to process.

Bucky shut him up with a kiss that he'd been saving for later, sliding his hands down to cup his ass. "Like these jeans on you, gonna like 'em better when you take them off," he said between breaths and earned a growling laugh.

He didn't know how he'd missed all the Daredevil clues on Matt's skin especially with that mouth on blatant display but damn - watching him fight was a turn-on.

"I'm finally getting my shit together after a long stretch of - not - my identity's more - "

"I think this is the first time I've ever had to vouch for Captain fucking America's trustworthiness but - "

_"Here, kitty kitty!"_ Danny's voice drifted down from the meeting roof and Matt turned his face away so he could bury his shame in Bucky's shoulder.

"I don't think I like that kid if he makes you blush like that," Bucky laughed. 

"I lost the bet, but he's milking it. Another reason I'm ready to take this mask off and get to the free drinks part. Danny may have pointed out that I can't defend my claim from your allegedly 'ripped as fuck' teammates if I don't man up."

* * *

"Oh, hey, I know you - you were almost my rebound," Sam lit up when Matt joined them in the bar bare-faced with his hand on Danny's arm for guidance.

Bucky appreciated the guy's swagger as he smiled and charmed Sam despite Steve doubling down on a glare.

Danny and Luke rolled their eyes and brought pitchers of beer over as a peace offering, both giving Steve vocal admiration to snatch Sam's attention back to his boyfriend.

He hadn't met Matt's 'best' friend, Foggy, yet but Danny and Luke seemed to have a handle on Matt's particular kind of mating ritual because he slid both hands into Bucky's back pockets and kissed him like they were alone in the alley again.

"Cap absolutely hates me now, should I dial it back?" Matt whispered.

Bucky grinned into his mouth and then pulled back to bop his nose. "Please, but not because of him."

"Ya'll are dangerous," Sam laughed and Steve's frown softened as he took in that it wasn't a joke at anyone's expense - not even Matt's.

"Never seen Matt with an significant other that wasn't trying to kill him," Danny grinned once they'd settled into the large half-circle booth that fit them all with Matt and Sam on the ends.

"And it begins," Matt groaned, his thigh pressed against Bucky's and lazily slinging his arm across his shoulders and wrapping his fingers around the bottle Luke nudged against his knuckles.

"This is Matt, he's a lawyer and he's been blind since he was a kid but yes, he can still fight," Bucky told Steve directly to try and hit all the questions before he exploded in confetti.

"Nice to meet you, officially," Matt said, shaking his hand. "Can't really make friends in the mask but, Bucky speaks very highly of you."

Steve scoffed. "Now I know you're full of shit."

"Hey!" Bucky protested.

"He's a nice guy, I'm not the best at dating but we're going to give it a shot - it would be nice if you and I could - coexist," Matt said.

"Oh. Not sure we can avoid it, so, sure, that's fine," Steve said, withering slightly under Sam's pointed look.

Matt smiled, probably hearing the reluctance but accepting it for what it was. They would get along, Bucky would make sure of it - not that he intended on double dating any time soon - he liked Matt for himself, not the sharing.

"Guess you've got a type," Luke elbowed Bucky, comfortable enough to 'nudge' him so, progress?

"What's that mean? What do Steve and Matt have in common?" Sam asked.

"Steve and Matt have too *much* in common," Danny said, tilting his beer at Steve without meeting his curious blue eyes. "Your boyfriend dies, then you find out the bad guys you were fighting together brought him back evil and sent him to kill you and all his friends - just like Matt's ex."

"Thing about Elektra, though, he knew she was wrong the whole time - never had a heartbeat and he still thought she was worth saving - " Luke picked up.

"No, he knew she needed to die, he just tried to die with her instead of living without her again."

"Hey, that's fucking enough, God, TMI much?" Matt sighed but Danny shrugged off his ire with a practice mimicking espression.

"There we are trying to save the city and shit and he's laser-focused on his - "

"Don't say it," Matt growled, but Bucky doubted it was true anger - he wasn't Daredevil right now and his muscles weren't tense with instinct - yet. It was a pretty fucking heavy conversation but - they were making it into conversation. Bucky wasn't sure how he felt about that - yet.

"She killed, like, thirty people, and that's not counting her minions," Luke grumbled.

"She wasn't in control," Matt frowned but Bucky and Steve, if not Sam, had clued into this being a familiar, well-worn argument.

"That's after she killed the people that were controlling her," Danny stage-whispered to Sam who was growing more concerned by the second.

"Go Elektra," Bucky murmured and Matt pecked his cheek. "Do I need a BOLO for her?"

"We are 88% sure she's dead for real now. Nobody could've made it out of that building alive," Luke said.

"What's the 11% difference? No body?" Sam asked.

"Matt made it out. Divine intervention, maybe, luck, he ain't got that so - 11% chance it was the ex," Danny explained. 

Bucky hummed. "Now that's a story I hadn't heard."

"Not particularly my favorite one to tell," Matt replied, leaning his head against Bucky's shoulder.

"Well, we can't tell the one about Jessica being mind-controlled into killing my first wife unless she's here to joke about how it earned her a chance to shoot me in the head," Luke said.

"Or how my dad's business partner had my parents killed - " Danny started.

Sam threw up both hands in frustration.

"I cannot take them anywhere," Matt said.

* * *


End file.
